List of oldest surviving professional wrestlers

Abe Coleman celebrating his 100th birthday in 2005.

This is a list of oldest surviving professional wrestlers. As of December 7, there are 41 living veterans from the "Golden Age of Wrestling" (1950s-1970s) over 75 years old. The last surviving wrestler from the "Pioneer Era" (1900s-1940s) was American wrestler Angelo Savoldi (born 21 April 1914, aged 99 years, 145 days). The title of the oldest verified wrestler of all time belongs to Polish-born American wrestler Abe Coleman (1905–2007), who lived 101 years, 189 days. The oldest female wrestler was Cora Combs (1923-2015), aged 92 years, 96 days.

The oldest current wrestler is "Bullet" Bob Armstrong, who at the age of 76, continues to wrestle for the All Pro Wrestling. The oldest wrestler to have a match is Mae Young, who had a 16-Diva tag match in WWE on November 3, 2008, at the age of 87.

List

Oldest wrestlers ever

Rank	Name	Sex	Age	Birth	Death	Notes
1	Abe Coleman	M	101 years, 189 days	20 September 1905	28 March 2007	Oldest wrestler ever verified. Born in Poland.[1]
2	Angelo Savoldi	M	99 years, 152 days	21 April 1914	20 September 2013	Last surviving veteran of the "Pioneer Era". Oldest living CAC and Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee.
3	Betty Wagner	F	98 years	1912–1913	3 June 2011	First wife and valet of Gorgeous George.
4	Dan McLeod	M	98 years, 6 days	14 June 1860	20 June 1958	Last surviving American Heavyweight Champion and oldest living veteran of the "Farmer" Burns-Frank Gotch era.[1]
5	Ivan the Terrible	M	97 years	1899	February 1996	[1]
6	Jack LaLanne	M	96 years, 119 days	26 September 1914	23 January 2011	World-famous fitness guru had a brief pro wrestling career in 1938.
7	Milo Steinborn	M	94 years, 328 days	18 March 1894	9 February 1989	Born in Germany, promoted wrestling in Florida[1]
8	Andrew Tsimpides	M	94 years, 34 days	16 August 1916	19 September 2011	Former manager of Gorgeous George
9	James Dudley	M	94 years, 22 days	10 May 1910	1 June 2004	First African-American promoter & manager working under Vincent J. McMahon
10	Clarence Eklund	M	93 years, 215 days	3 June 1887	4 January 1981	[1]
11	Speedy Hatfield	M	93 years, 212 days	30 November 1908	30 June 2002	[1][2]
12	Mick McManus	M	93 years, 131 days	11 January 1920	22 May 2013	British and European Middleweight Champion, one of the most famous heels in the history of British wrestling. Watched by 20 million people in a famous televised match in 1963 [1]
13	Sam Muchnick	M	93 years, 130 days	22 August 1905	30 December 1998	St. Louis wrestling promoter[1]
14	Dean Rockwell	M	93 years, 72 days	25 May 1912	5 August 2005	[1]
15	Brutus Malumba	M	93 years	September 11, 1921 [3]	January 2015	Wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling in the 1970s.
16	Ray Villmer	M	92 years, 262 days	22 April 1912	9 January 2005	[1]
17	Charles Baillargeon	M	92 years, 217 days	8 July 1917	10 February 2010	Born in Canada.[1]
18	Abe Zvonkin	M	92 years, 169 days	6 March 1910	22 August 2002	Born in the United States.[1]
19	Tony Cosenza	M	92 years, 125 days	14 April 1919	17 August 2011	Once known as the "famous wrestling pianist".
20	Jackie Nichols	M	92 years, 112 days	31 December 1910	22 April 2003	[1][4]
21	Cora Combs	F	92 years, 96 days	17 March 1923	21 June 2015
22	Paddy Casey	M	92 years, 15 days	February 1910	16 February 2002	Last surviving brother of the Casey sporting family.[1][2]
23	Bob "Legs" Langevin	M	91 years, 357 days	13 October 1913	8 October 2005	[1]
24	Chris Dundee	M	91 years, 265 days	25 February 1907	17 November 1998	Miami Beach wrestling promoter[1]
25	Herb Welch	M	91 years, 49 days	8 February 1908	29 March 1999	Patriarch of the Fuller wrestling family[1]

Oldest wrestlers currently living

Rank	Name	Sex	Age	Birth	Notes
1	Bill Mercer	M	90 years, 298 days	13 February 1926	Voice of World Class Championship Wrestling.
2	Lance Russell	M	90 years, 264 days	18 March 1926	Voice of Memphis wrestling.
3	Stan Kowalski	M	90 years, 208 days	13 May 1926	Known for his run in AWA in the 1960s to the 1980s when he was a color commentator known as Big K.
3	Carlos Rocha	M	89 years, 309 days	2 February 1927	First Portuguese wrestler to wrestle in WWWF.
4	"Cowboy" Bob Ellis	M	87 years, 267 days	15 March 1929	Inventor of "the bulldog"; first prominent cowboy character in wrestling
5	Pampero Firpo	M	86 years, 245 days	6 April 1930	Lives in the United States.
6	El Mongol	M	86 years, 244 days	7 April 1930	Oldest surviving Mexican wrestler. Lives in the United States.
7	Len Rossi	M	86 years	1930	Tennessee legend
8	Don Leo Jonathan	M	85 years, 222 days	29 April 1931	Lives in Canada.
9	Dick Beyer	M	85 years, 149 days	11 July 1931	Best known for portraying the masked wrestlers The Destroyer and Doctor X. Father of Kurt Beyer. Oldest living World Heavyweight Champion (AWA)
10	Dave Kidney	M	85 years	1931	Oldest British wrestler still working.[5]
11	Danny Hodge	M	84 years, 208 days	13 May 1932
12	Rene Goulet	M	84 years, 148 days	12 July 1932	[6]
13	Gene LeBell	M	84 years, 59 days	9 October 1932	Los Angeles promoter and announcer
14	Caswell Martin	M	84 years	1932	Wrestled in the UK, Germany and Japan.
15	Stan Holek	M	83 years, 247 days	4 April 1933	Lives in the United States.
16	Mr. Wrestling II	M	82 years, 88 days	10 September 1934	Former NWA Florida Champion.
17	Jose Lothario	M	81 years, 361 days	12 December 1934	Trainer of Shawn Michaels.
18	Moose Morowski	M	81 years, 154 days	6 July 1935	Former NWA Canadian Heavyweight, International Tag Team and Austra-Asian Heavyweight Champion.
19	Bruno Sammartino	M	81 years, 62 days	6 October 1935	The longest-reigning WWWF Champion and oldest living holder of the title.
20	Jack Lanza	M	81 years, 54 days	14 October 1935	Long-standing WWF road agent. Member of The Blackjacks.
21	Mario Milano	M	81 years	1935	4 times IWA World Heavyweight Champion.
22	Dominic DeNucci	M	80 years, 319 days	23 January 1936	Former WWWF Tag Team Champion
23	Larry Hennig	M	80 years, 172 days	18 June 1936	"The Axe". Father of Curt Hennig. AWA legend.
24	Mark Lewin	M	79 years, 266 days	16 March 1937	Multi-time regional champion, member of Kevin Sullivan's Army of Darkness.
25	George Steele	M	79 years, 235 days	16 April 1937	"The Animal". WWF road agent. Starred in "Ed Wood".
26	Jerry Brown	M	79 years, 211 days	10 May 1937	One half of the famous 70's tag team known as The Hollywood Blondes.
27	Zivko Kovacic	M	79 years, 68 days	30 September 1937	First Yugoslavian wrestler to wrestle in the WWWF.
28	Angelo Mosca	M	78 years, 269 days	13 March 1938	Dual-sport star with CFL in Canada.
29	Omar Atlas	M	78 years, 229 days	22 April 1938	Former NWA Central States Champion.
30	Paul Vachon	M	78 years, 207 days	14 May 1938	Former AWA Tag Team Champion.
31	Jody Hamilton	M	78 years, 101 days	28 August 1938	One-half of "The Assassins"
32	Abe Jacobs	M	78 years	1938	Former NWA World Tag Team Champion.
33	Sheik Adnan al-Kaissie	M	77 years, 281 days	1 March 1939	aka General Adnan in WWF
34	Lars Anderson	M	77 years, 269 days	13 March 1939	NWA tag team champion
35	Paul Christy	M	77 years, 262 days	20 March 1939	"The Golden Boy" WWA, AWA, NWA, & ICW Legend
36	Bill Watts	M	77 years, 216 days	5 May 1939	Promoter of Mid-South Wrestling/UWF
37	Bob Armstrong	M	77 years, 65 days	3 October 1939	"The Bullet". Patriarch of Armstrong wrestling family.
38	Roger Kirby	M	76 years, 359 days	14 December 1939	Former NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion and 2 times AWA Southern Tag Team Champion.
39	Zoltan Boscik	M	77 years	1939	Former British Lightweight Champion.

Oldest wrestlers to ever compete

Rank	Name	Sex	Age in last match	Birth	Death	Date of last match	Notes
1	Mae Young	F	87 years, 248 days	March 12, 1923	January 14, 2014	November 15, 2010	Wrestled a 16-Diva tag match on November 3, 2008. She also took part in what was called a "match" at the age of 87, when outside the ring on November 15, 2010 when she put her foot over WWE's LayCool tag team for a pin.
2	The Fabulous Moolah	F	80 years, 55 days	July 22, 1923	November 2, 2007	September 15, 2003	Defeated Victoria on WWE "Raw" September 15, 2003.
3	Dave Kidney	M	79 years	1931	Living	January 28, 2011	Last known match took place at SSW in Scotland on January 28, 2011.
4	Gypsy Joe	M	77 years, 36 days	December 12, 1933	June 14, 2016	January 7, 2011	Joe wrestled his last match at the Gypsy Joe retirement show on January 7, 2011. Held in Tullahoma, Tennessee by the Southern Wrestling Federation.
5	Bob Armstrong	M	76 years, 245 days	October 3, 1939	Living	June 4, 2016	On June 4, 2016 Armstrong wrestled his last match in a Gulf South Championship Wrestling card that took place in Chickasaw, Alabama.
6	Dominic DeNucci	M	76 years, 82 days	January 23, 1936	Living	April 14, 2012	DeNucci wrestled his last match at a PWS card in Toronto, Canada.
7	Dory Funk, Jr.	M	75 years, 283 days	February 3, 1941	Living	November 28, 2016	In his most recent match, the former NWA World Heavyweight Champion wrestled in a Tokyo Gurentai card that took place at Korakuen Hall.
8	Lou Thesz	M	74 years, 243 days	April 24, 1916	April 28, 2002	December 26, 1990	The former undisputed World Heavyweight Champion last wrestled Masahiro Chono in Japan.
9	Mil Máscaras	M	74 years, 145 days	July 15, 1942	Living	Still active	As of June 2016, Mil Máscaras is still active, wrestling in various indy promotions
10	Johnny Saint	M	73 years, 349 days	June 29, 1941	Living	June 6, 2015	Wrestled for Italian Championship Wrestling.
11	Great Kojika	M	73 years, 127 days	April 28, 1942	Living	September 2, 2015	Wrestled in a tag team match on a Tenryu Project card in Tokyo, Japan. Debuted in 1963, retired full-time in 1988 but returned sporadically since 1995.
12	The Sheik	M	72 years	June 9, 1926	January 18, 2003	1998	Wrestled his last match in Japan in 1998.
13	Warren Bockwinkel	M	72 years (unverified)	May 21, 1911	March 25, 1986	1983?	It is said that Warren Bockwinkel, father of Nick Bockwinkel, wrestled until the age of 72.
14	Jimmy Snuka	M	72 years, 106 days	May 18, 1943	Living	September 2015	Snuka still wrestles in various independent promotions.
15	Claude Roca	M	71 years, 126 days	March 18, 1945	Living	January 2016	Roca is still active, his most recent match took place at July 2016 in France.
16	Terry Funk	M	70 years, 164 days	June 30, 1944	Living	Still active	The former NWA & ECW World Heavyweight Champion wrestled in a trios match on a Tokyo Gurentai Card in Tokyo, Japan.
17	Adrian Street	M	69 years, 349 days	December 5, 1940	Living	November 19, 2010	Retired at NWA Birmingham's "Big Bang" event on November 19, 2010, where he defeated Aeon Flexx.
18	Robbie Ellis	M	69 years, 328 days	April 8, 1943	Living	March 22, 2013	Retired in March 2013.
19	Bushwhacker Luke	M	69 years, 334 days	January 8, 1947	Living	Still active	As of March 2015, Luke still wrestles in various independent promotions.
20	George Julio	M	69 years, 150 days	March 10, 1946	Living	October 10, 2015	Wrestled against Mad Dog McCrea in Australia's New Age Wrestling card. Set to retire on November 7, 2015.[7]
21	Abdullah the Butcher	M	68 years, 356 days	January 11, 1941	Living	January 4, 2010	Had an 8-man tag team match at Wrestle Kingdom IV in the Tokyo Dome, also involving Terry Funk
22	Kendo Nagasaki	M	68 years, 334 days	October 19, 1946	Living	September 18, 2015	Wrestled against Minoru Tanaka & Ultimo Dragon in a tag team match for a RJPW card in Tokyo, Japan.
23	Nikolai Volkoff	M	69 years, 54 days	October 14, 1947	Living	Still active	Still wrestles in various independent promotions.
24	Bill Eadie	M	68 years, 346 days	December 27, 1947	Living	Still active	Still wrestles with Smash in various independent promotions.
25	Sgt. Slaughter	M	68 years, 102 days	August 27, 1948	Living	Still active	Last wrestled on NEW's March Mayhem 2014.
26	Mitsuo Momota	M	68 years, 77 days	September 21, 1948	Living	Still active	Most recent match took place at the RJPW Burning Tiger card on March 20, 2015.
27	Jaque Mate	M	68 years, 69 days	September 29, 1948	Living	Still active	Still wrestles in various independent promotions in Mexico.
28	Cien Caras	M	67 years, 50 days	October 18, 1949	Living	Still active	Still wrestles in various independent promotions in Mexico.
29	Vince McMahon	M	67 years, 45 days	August 24, 1945	Living	October 8, 2012	WWE wrestling promoter and wrestler Vince McMahon last wrestled CM Punk on RAW.
30	Iron Sheik	M	67 years, 40 days	March 15, 1943	Living	April 24, 2010	The former WWF Champion wrestled a handicapped retirement match, teaming with Jay Lethal at an MWF independent show on April 24, 2010.

Oldest wrestlers still wrestling

Rank	Name	Sex	Age	Birth	Notes
1	Bob Armstrong	M	77 years, 65 days	October 3, 1939	Wrestles in All Pro Wrestling in Pensacola, FL.
2	Mil Máscaras	M	74 years, 145 days	July 15, 1942	Still wrestles in various independent promotions in Mexico.
3	Bushwhacker Luke	M	69 years, 334 days	January 8, 1947	Wrestles independent shows. Defeated Matt Riviera at NWA Wrestle Birmingham's "Big Bang" event on November 19, 2010.
4	Nikolai Volkoff	M	69 years, 54 days	October 14, 1947	Wrestled independent shows in the US during summer 2010.
5	Bill Eadie	M	68 years, 346 days	December 27, 1947	Wrestles independent shows around North America
6	Sgt. Slaughter	M	68 years, 102 days	August 27, 1948	Last wrestled on NEW's March Mayhem 2014.
7	Great Kabuki	M	68 years, 90 days	September 8, 1948	Most recent match took place on Day 2 of the Wrestle-1 2015 Symbol Tour on July 12, 2015.
8	Mitsuo Momota	M	68 years, 77 days	September 21, 1948	Most recent match took place at the RJPW Burning Tiger card on March 20, 2015.
9	Jaque Mate	M	68 years, 69 days	September 29, 1948	Still wrestles in various independent promotions in Mexico.
10	Cien Caras	M	67 years, 50 days	October 18, 1949	Still wrestles in various independent promotions in Mexico.

References

1. Will, Gary (December 1998). "Gary Will: Deceased Pro Wrestlers - A Tribute to Mat Stars of the Past". GaryWill.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
2. Mooneyham, Mike (2003-12-29). "The Wrestling Gospel According to Mike Mooneyham: Wrestling Lost Memorable Names In 2002". MikeMooneyham.com. Archived from the original on 2008-03-12. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
3. Cauliflower Alley Club - 2015 FINISHES (RIP)
4. DeBlasi, Anthony (2003-12-20). "Remembering Those We Lost". Wrestling-News.com. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
5. Reid, Georgina (2009-07-23). "Giant Greystacks: Dave Kidney, 78, is the UK's oldest wrestler". The Sun.
6. Laroche, Stephen (2001-04-19). "Rene Goulet: Consummate pro". Slam Wrestling Bios. SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
7. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/west/one-last-cage-fight-at-albion-for-australias-oldest-wrestler-69-year-old-george-the-hitman-julio/story-fngnvmj7-1227567758257?sv=584a32bf7282ee9cafc6a6dfa5a8ba17

External links

• Dead Wrestlers